Tufter



April 22, 1958 P. M; COLE TUFTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 24, 1955RE mL m0 C M L M P ATTORNEY April 22, 1958 p, co 2,831,525

TUFTER Filed March 24, 1955 Z'ShQBtS-Shfit 2nrrrrrrrrrrrl-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm1NVENTOR PA U L M. COLE ATTORNEY United States Patent TUFTER Paul M.Cole, Wilmington, Del., assignor to E. l. du Pont de Nemours and(Jompany, Wihnington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application March24, 1955, Serial No. 496,479

11 Claims. (Cl. 154-11) This invention relates to production of nonwovenmaterials having upstanding tufts or pile, such as carpeting, and novelmachinery therefor.

The development of synthetic fibers characterized by high resistance toabrasion, crushing, and soiling and the advent of greatly increasedcosts for woven tufted fabrics have prompted considerable interest innonwoven synthetic pile carpets and similar tufted materials. However,economical manufacture of these products requires marked changes andimprovements in existing apparatus and methods.

An object of the present invention is improved tufting of fabrics.Another object is simplified production of nonwoven carpeting. Otherobjects of this invention, together with means and methods foraccomplishing the various objects, will be apparent from the followingdescription and the accompanying diagrams.

Figure l is a perspective view of apparatus of this invention. Figure 2is a sectional elevation of the apparatus of Figure 1. Figure 3 is asectional elevation of an element of apparatus partially resembling thatof Figure 1. Figure 4 is a schematized side view of another tuftingapparatus. Figure 5 is a side elevation of additional apparatus usefulaccording to the present invention. Figure 6 is a section of tuftedproduct.

In general, the objects of this invention are accomplished by means of amultitude of identical thin slats extending transversely of and outwardfrom a long curved surface and tiltable fore and aft with respectthereto with the tilting angle and the outer-edge separation of theslats controlled to provide close spacing for confinement of tuftingmaterial therebetween and open spacing for injection or release of thetufting material. The present invention comprehends also combination ofthese means with means juxtaposed thereto for injecting tufting materialbetween the slats, described in detail below, along with apparatus forapplying binding and backing material to the tufting so formed.

Figure 1 shows in perspective a particular form of apparatus inaccordance with this invention. carries cylindrical drum 2 alilxed to itand supports fixed protective plate 3 (held from moving by externalsupports not shown) covering the end of the drum, being partly cut awayin the drawing for a clearer showing. The peripheral surface of the drumhas slots 4 oriented transversely of the curved surface (i. e.,longitudinally with respect to the drum axis) and arranged in threesets, located one about each end of the drum and one about the center,to receive tabs 5 extending from the inner edges of slats 6, arranged onedge about the drum, and retain the slats loosely for tilting in theforward and the after directions.

The tab ends extend sufiiciently inward upon proper radial orientationof the slats to engage, during rotation of the drum, top cam 8 andbottom cam 9 of cam support 10, visible in Figure 2, which is asectional elevation taken through one of the nearer sets of slots (theslots themselves being too narrow to appear separately on the scale ofthis view). Located abovethe drum is a rotary injector comprising axle12 with protruding transverse blades 13 intermeshing with the slatsabove the top cam location. Warp 14 of tufting material is visible atthe upper left of Figures 1 and 2, the parallel yarn ends extending froma distant source (not shown) to the intermeshing location of blades andslats, where each of the the yarns is forced into a convolutedconfiguration of bights or loops held between each pair of adjacentslats and joined successively about the outer edge of each of the slats.To the lower right of the drum and juxtaposed to the exposed portions ofthis configuration is presser roll 16 over which backing material 17passes into contact with the tufting material. At the lower leftopposite the bottom cam is take-01f roll 15 about which the combinedbacking and tufting material passes on its way to eventual collection.

As the drum of Figure 1 has three sets of slots to receive the tabs ofthe slats, it conveniently includes three separate cam supports atcorresponding internal locations. All of these supports, of which onlyone is visible in an end sectional view, may be visualized as identical.The preferred construction shown in Figure 2 reveals each cam support 10to be shaped as a ring gear supported in contact with spur gear 2t)mounted on axle 21. Also contacting the cam-supporting ring gear areflanged pulleys 22 and 22' carried on respective axles 23 and 23, eachspaced equidistant and equiangularly from one another about the drumaxle to locate the ring gear concentrically. The axles of the pulleysand of the spur gear are mounted in flanges 27, integral with the drumaxle and the drum itself and located between the locations of the gearpairs. The furthermost cam-supporting gear has extension 11 fixedexternally to hold that gear motionless with respect to external fixedpoints.

Rotation of the drum on its axle also rotates the fianges (Figure 2),thus revolving the axles of the pulleys and the spur gear about the axisof the drum. The spur gears for the other cam-supporting ring gears,being tied by a common axle to the spur gear contacting the fixed endring gear, hold their respective ring gears still also as the spur gearsroll around inside them. Pulley flanges 25 and 25' maintain properlocation of the cam-supporting ring gears lengthwise of the apparatusand keep them in mesh with their spur gears.

Figure 3 represents a construction of earn support that often may beused satisfactorily in place of the construction just described. Thedrum andits mounting, as well as the various external elements may belike those of Figure 1. In Figure 3, drum 32 carried on axle 31 has tabs35 of slats 36 extending through slots (too small for effective separateshowing) in its cylindrical portion. Cam support 30, rotatably mountedon axle 31 by suitable bearings (not shown) has mass 37 of sufiicientsize to hold the support motionless as the axle turns inside it and thetabs contact top or closing cam 38 located above the axle on an arm ofthe support and bottom or opening cam 39.

In composition, the articles and elements just men tioned are in no wayunusual. The tufting material may be of any composition, natural orsynthetic, staple or continuous filament, or combinations of these;furthermore, the warp of parallel yarn ends may be replaced by a batt oforiented fibers or filaments, as desired. The backing material should becapable of forming a permanent bond with the tufting material and mayconsist essentially of a natural or synthetic latex or a thermosettingplastic, as is well known in the art, If desired, the backing maybe amultilayered material adhesive on one side only. The drums, camsupports, rotors, rolls, and slats conveniently are of metal chosen forobvious structural requirements, steel being generally suitable for eachof these elements; stainless steel is desirable for the slats of thedrum and blades of the rotor because of their contact with the tuftingmaterial.

Operation of the apparatus described above is readily understood. Thewarp of yarn moves between the slats of the drum (rotating clockwise)and the blades of the injection rotor (rotating counterclockwise). Eachblade of the rotor tilts a slat forward, increasing the separationbetween it and the following slat, and injects a portion of each warpyarn down between these adjacent slats to form a loop or bighttherebetween. Continued rotation of the drum immediately brings the tabsof the yarn-receiving slats into contact with the top or closing cam onthe cam support, which tilts each of them in succession further forward;as the tilting angle of the slats is limited by the dimensions of theretaining slots for the tabs, the yarn is gripped tightly betweenadjacent slats while in the resulting closed position. The slotspreferably do not extend exactly radially through the drum surface but,instead, are oriented in the forward direction; this facilitates moreeffective camming of the slats by allowing a greater angle of tilting ofthe slats in the forward direction than in the after direction.

Rotation of the drum through somewhat less than a half circle morebrings the protruding portions or bases of the tufts into contact with acontinuous strip of backing material into which they are forced by thepresser roll about which the backing material travels. The backing thensolidifies to form a permanent bond with the tufts, as may befacilitated by heating or other recognized curing step carried out whilethe material is on the drum.

vAfter about almost another quarter rotation, the tabs of the slats,which have become oriented substantially radially underneath the drumunder the influence of gravity, contact the bottom cam surface, whichtilts them successively in the forward direction and frees thesuccessive rows of tufts therefrom. The combined backing and tuftingmaterial then passes through a slight are about the nearby take-off rolland oif for further processing or windup.

The tufts may be sheared subsequently by conventional apparatus (notshown), whereupon the structure will appear as shown in Figure 6, inwhich backing 17 is shown for simplicity as composed of continuous baselayer 18 and top layer 19 in which the bottom of adjacent tuft pairs isembedded. However, regardless of whether the tufts are sheared or leftin their original looped condition, their bases are firmly anchored inthe backing.

Instead of being mounted upon a drum, the spacing slats may be anchoredat one end in an endless belt or chain; such an arrangement appears inFigure 4, which shows slats 44 carried on belt 42 about spreader roll 41and other rolls. Each slat has a transverse rubber boss 45 near itsouter edge to aid in subsequent gripping of tufting material 54.Reciprocating injector 51 mounted radially above and to one side of thespreader roll has arm 50, whose end moves back and forth to grip thetufting material where it passes over the outer edge of each successiveslat, and adjacent blade 53, which slides back and forth along the armbut with a longer stroke to mesh with each pair of adjacent slats; thesereciprocating movements are procured readily by means of cams oreccentrics (not shown) as is well known in the art. The injected tuftsor material are held between the slats as the belt inflects and passesabout nearby compressor roll as. The material then passes betweenpresser rolls 47 and 47', which force the tufted material into firmcontact with backing material 48 proceeding from forwarding roll 49.Subsequent passage of the belt over release roll 55 spreads the slatsagain at the outer edges, allowing the combined backing and tuftingmaterial to 4 pass away to a suitable collection location (not shown)while the belt carrying the slats returns about idler roll 56 to thespreader roll to complete the circuit.

Instead of using change in curvature of the belt path provided by acompresser roll to force the slats together at their outer edges forsecure gripping of the tufts, the apparatus may include a suitable camshoe to straighten out the belt or even curve it in the oppositedirection as soon as it leaves the spreader roll. Figure 5 shows an endview of such an arrangement in which slats 64 are carried on beit 62about spreader roll 61. As the belt passes off the spreader roll itslides over the surface of cam shoe 6?, which forces the outer edges ofadjacent slats together to grip tufting material 74 therebetween.

Also illustrated in Figure 5 is another means for injecting the tuftingmaterial between the slats. Additional belt 71 proceeding from roll 72is superimposed on the exposed outside of the tufting material as theinside of the material contacts the outer ends of the spread slats, andthis belt and the tufting material when move along together at the samerate in the form of chords 73, rather than arcs. As the belt carryingthe slats is about to leave the spreader roll, the additional outer beltcontacts the concave surface of outer cam shoe 68, which forces it intoare rather than chord form as the separation of the outer ends of theflanking slats begins to lessen. With the added belt sliding confinedagainst this cam surface, the underlying tufting material is unable tobuckle outward so that as the inner belt straightens out to force theouter edges of the slats together the tufting material buckles inwardbetween successive adjacent slats. The bights or tufts so formed areapproximately half as high as the greatest previous separation of theslat ends. Being under tension the added belt does not buckle butinstead passes directly off the end of the outer cam shoe and abouttake-off roll 75 from which it proceeds about idler roll 76 and back tothe supply roll. The tufted material then moves on to receive a backing(not shown) as in Figure 4 or any conventional manner.

The apparatus of this invention is notable for its simplicity ofconstruction and utilization of easily maintaina'ble rotating elements.The positive gripping and ungripping action of the described apparatuspermits operation with light thin slats so as to produce a highconcentration of tufts in the final article. Use of nylon multifilamentof 4650 denier in a warp so processed has permitted formation of a finepile with more than 27,500 tufts per square foot; this article producedon a rubber base has a luxurious appearance and feel. As a concomitantof simplicity of construction, operation, and maintenance the apparatusof this invention affords highly advantageous over-all economy. Otherbenefits of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art of manufacturing tufting materials generally.

The claimed invention: 7

1. Apparatus comprising a multitude of independent slats orientedtransversely of and outward from a long curved movable surface andtiltable fore and aft thereof by tilting means located in proximity toinner edges of the slats.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the movable surface comprises theperipheral surface of a cylindrical drum mounted for rotation on an axleand having slots oriented widthwise thereof and in which the slats haveat their inner ends retaining tabs located in the slots in the drumsurface.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which the tilting means comprises camscarried on a support mounted on the axle inside the drum for rotationrelative thereto.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the support has a first cam surfaceeffective to tilt the slats forward near the top of the drum and asecond cam surface effective to tilt the slats forward near the bottomof the drum.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 in combination with a rotary injector havingradially protruding blades intermeshing with the slats near the top ofthe drum.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the movable surface is a flexiblesubstantially planar belt passing about a slat-spreading roll and theslats are secured to the belt at their inner edges.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 in which an inner cam shoe eifective tostraighten the belt is located between the spreader roll and the beltnear the point of departure of the belt from the roll.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 in combination with an added belt enclosingand movable with the outer ends of the spread slats until a point ofdeparture therefrom and an outer cam shoe located outside the added beltat a location opposite the spreader roll and having a concave surfaceadjacent the added belt near the point of departure of the added beltfrom contact with the tufting material.

9. Apparatus comprising a cylindrical drum having sets of slots throughits curved surface, adjacent slots in each set being spaced from oneanother in a circle and the sets being spaced from one anotherlongitudinally of the drum; slats oriented on edge about the drum andextending longitudinally, with tabs from the inner edges of the slatsextending through the slots so as to retain the slats against the drum,and tiltable fore and aft with respect to a direction of rotation of thedrum; cams located inside the drum at such distance from the innersurface thereof opposite each set of slots as to contact slats tilted inthe after direction and, thus, effective to tilt the slats: in theforward direction upon rotation of the drum in that direction withrespect to the cams.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 in which the cams opposite each set ofslots are mounted on a ring gear held concentric with the drum axis bymeshing spur gear and a plurality of flanged pulleys contacting the ringgear internally, the corresponding pulleys and spur gears being carriedon axles held fixed with respect to the drum by internal flanges thereofand one of the ring gears being held fixed with respect to an externalcoordinate system 'by an arm extending from the ring gear to fixedexternal means without contact with the drum.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 in which each slat is provided with arubber boss near its outer edge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,293,295 Amidon Feb. 4, 1919 2,488,004 Crossley Nov. 15, 1949 2,553,017Sterner May 15, 1952 2,583,337 Laing Jan. 22, 1952 2,636,250 Hernmi Apr.28, 1953 2,747,647 Brinton et a1 May 29, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 475,737Canada July 31, 1951

